Sydney Lockouts To Begin 24 February

Sydney's controversial 1.30am lockouts will begin Monday 24 February as Premier Barry O'Farrell moves quickly to meet his self-imposed 'end of April' deadline.

Passed through state parliament last week, the new legislation will enforce 1.30am lockouts and the 3am cessation of alcohol service in the Sydney CBD and Kings Cross precinct. It will also implement a state-wide ban on take-away alcohol services after 10pm.

The Premier warned today that venues who fail to comply will result in hefty fines and potential imprisonment.

“I expect the vast majority of venues will do the right thing and implement the new trading conditions without incident,” O'Farrell said. “However, any failure to comply can result in fines of up to $11,000 and/or imprisonment of up to 12 months – and is an offence that can incur a strike under the NSW Government's Three Strikes disciplinary scheme.”

The laws have caused much protest in the live music and culture industries, with a number of stakeholders – including theMusic.com.au and The Music – banding together to form the Sydney Late Night Culture Alliance.

Today theMusic can exclusively reveal that 30 new companies and organisations have joined the alliance, and their '1.31am Keep Sydney Open' campaign.

The new members are: Chugg Music, Select Music, Popfrenzy Records, Polaroids Of Androids, The AU Review, World Bar, The Lyceum, The Cliff Dive, The Square, Frankies Pizza, Niche Productions, Modular, Pennydrop, Shrug, Siberia Records, Astral People, Mad Racket, Fuzzy, Positive Feedback Publicity, Spark & Opus, Blunt Magazine, Australian Independent Musicians Association, The Basement, Petersham Bowling Club, RIP Society Records, Blackwire Records, Spice Cellar, Australian Freelance Musicians Alliance, The Brag and Kings Cross Hotel.

They join the foundation members of theMusic.com.au, MusicNSW, SLAM, GoodGod Small Club, Oxford Art Factory, inthemix and The Music Network.